Author: Tonio Andrade Publisher: Princeton University Press ISBN: 0691178143 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 444
Book Description
A first look at gunpowder's revolutionary impact on China's role in global history The Chinese invented gunpowder and began exploring its military uses as early as the 900s, four centuries before the technology passed to the West. But by the early 1800s, China had fallen so far behind the West in gunpowder warfare that it was easily defeated by Britain in the Opium War of 1839–42. What happened? In The Gunpowder Age, Tonio Andrade offers a compelling new answer, opening a fresh perspective on a key question of world history: why did the countries of western Europe surge to global importance starting in the 1500s while China slipped behind? Historians have long argued that gunpowder weapons helped Europeans establish global hegemony. Yet the inhabitants of what is today China not only invented guns and bombs but also, as Andrade shows, continued to innovate in gunpowder technology through the early 1700s—much longer than previously thought. Why, then, did China become so vulnerable? Andrade argues that one significant reason is that it was out of practice fighting wars, having enjoyed nearly a century of relative peace, since 1760. Indeed, he demonstrates that China—like Europe—was a powerful military innovator, particularly during times of great warfare, such as the violent century starting after the Opium War, when the Chinese once again quickly modernized their forces. Today, China is simply returning to its old position as one of the world's great military powers. By showing that China’s military dynamism was deeper, longer lasting, and more quickly recovered than previously understood, The Gunpowder Age challenges long-standing explanations of the so-called Great Divergence between the West and Asia.
Author: Everest Media, Publisher: Everest Media LLC ISBN: Category : History Languages : en Pages : 42
Book Description
Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Sample Book Insights: #1 The story of gunpowder’s development into a deadly technology is a vital part of global history. It’s also fascinating and bizarre. Early gunpowder weapons were not like the weapons we think we know, such as cannons and muskets. #2 The Chinese were the first to experiment with gunpowder weapons, and it was during this period that the process of developing new weapons took place. The Song Dynasty, 960-1279, saw the most momentous developments in military technology in human history until the twentieth century. #3 The Song dynasty was a time of efflorescence in China, and the city of Kaifeng was the largest in the world. The Song developed an advanced monetary system that allowed their citizens to spend their cash on a wide variety of goods and services. #4 The Song dynasty in China was home to many technological advances, from the magnetic compass to the toothbrush. The people of the Song may have even become anatomically modern before other people.
Author: Mark Fissel Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG ISBN: 3110657597 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 381
Book Description
The Military Revolution and Revolutions in Military Affairs updates two central debates in military history--the one surrounding the concept of military revolution, and the one on military affairs--whilst advancing original research in both fields. Only a handful of publications consider the military revolution and the RMA in tandem. This book breaks new ground conceptually and appeals to an exceptionally large and diverse readership. Comparative revisionist studies of the military revolution and RMA better enable us to comprehend the historical continuum and reveal the new RMA for what it is. And for what it is shortly to become. This book presents original contributions within the "epicentre" of the military revolution debate, the 1500s, with an emphasis on gunpowder revolution (offensively and defensively). The connections with the Revolution in Military Affairs are then made explicit by scholars, a practitioner, and an analyst, with an emphasis on airborne lethal autonomous weapons systems. This is a chronologically broad and unique methodological approach to a historical debate that begs for clarification as we enter an era where killer robots will almost certainly take from humans their monopoly on violence.
Author: Moumita Chowdhury Publisher: Taylor & Francis ISBN: 1000603970 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 181
Book Description
This book focuses on the relation between technology, warfare and state in South Asia in the eighteenth and the nineteenth centuries. It explores how gunpowder and artillery played a pivotal role in the military ascendancy of the East India Company in India. The monograph argues that the contemporary Indian military landscape was extremely dynamic, with contemporary indigenous polities (Mysore, the Maratha Confederacy and the Khalsa Kingdom) attempting to transform their military systems by modelling their armies on European lines. It shows how the Company established an edge through an efficient bureaucracy and a standardised manufacturing system, while the Indian powers primarily focused on continuous innovation and failed to introduce standardisation of production. Drawing on archival records from India and the UK, this volume makes a significant intervention in our understanding of the rise of the British Empire in South Asia. It will be of great interest to scholars and researchers of history, especially military history, military and strategic studies and South Asian studies.
Author: John Murphy Publisher: 'The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc' ISBN: 1499469187 Category : Juvenile Nonfiction Languages : en Pages : 50
Book Description
Few inventions have changed the world as much as gunpowder has. But did you know that its creation may date back nearly 2,000 years? It’s one of the so-called Four Great Inventions of China, and it likely all started with an accident. In this in-depth book, readers will learn more about the long and intricate background of gunpowder, from its unlikely beginnings to its use in old Chinese weapons and fireworks and its spread throughout the world. Photos give more background to the text, while extra features such as sidebars encourage further curiosity.
Author: John Storey Publisher: Hybrid Publishers ISBN: 1925736695 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 653
Book Description
World War II was the biggest and most destructive war in history. For two centuries wars had grown ever larger, with the use of more terrible weapons and rising casualties, culminating in the cataclysmic global events of 1939–45. And then, quite suddenly, large international wars have all but disappeared. What caused wars to grow in size to such an extent and then shrink so precipitously? Is this a permanent state of affairs or could big wars make a comeback? Lawyer and historian John P Storey explores these questions by looking at the evolution of military technology and tactics over the long history of warfare. From ancient bronze spears and chariots to World War II tanks and warplanes, from the nuclear weapons of the Cold War to the drones and robotics of the future, the changes in our methods of waging war has had, and will continue to have, a major impact on their size and destructiveness. The sobering conclusion Storey makes is that, based on past trends and the weapons in the pipeline for the future, there is a much higher risk of there being much bigger wars in the coming decades.
Author: John Keegan Publisher: Random House ISBN: 1446496511 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 474
Book Description
The definitive history of warfare told by Britain's foremost military historian. John Keegan’s masterpiece is a work of breath-taking scope that not only chronicles the history of warfare, but unearths lessons on the nature of humanity. Stretching across centuries and continents, from the Empire of Babylon to the Somme, A History of Warfare studies civilisations, psychology, archaeology, genetics, history and strategy with an expert’s eye. John Keegan’s unmissable and epic journey through military history has been widely acclaimed and remains vital reading today.
Author: Wayne E. Lee Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA ISBN: 0199797455 Category : History, Military Languages : en Pages : 561
Book Description
Waging War: Conflict, Culture, and Innovation in World History provides a wide-ranging examination of war in human history, from the beginning of the species until the current rise of the so-called Islamic State. Although it covers many societies throughout time, the book does not attempt to tell all stories from all places, nor does it try to narrate important conflicts. Instead, author Wayne E. Lee describes the emergence of military innovations and systems, examining how they were created and then how they moved or affected other societies. These innovations are central to most historical narratives, including the development of social complexity, the rise of the state, the role of the steppe horseman, the spread of gunpowder, the rise of the west, the bureaucratization of military institutions, the industrial revolution and the rise of firepower, strategic bombing and nuclear weapons, and the creation of people's war.
Author: James Paul Gee Publisher: Psychology Press ISBN: 9780415317771 Category : Education Languages : en Pages : 152
Book Description
Tackles the big ideas about language, literacy and learning. Why do poor and minority students under-perform in school? Do computer games help or hinder learning? What can new research in psychology teach our educational policy makers?
Author: Tonio Andrade
Author: Everest Media,
Author: Mark Fissel
Author: Moumita Chowdhury
Author: John Murphy
Author: John Storey
Author: John Keegan
Author: Sir Arthur Mitchell
Author: Wayne E. Lee
Author: James Paul Gee